First let me say how much your newspaper is appreciated. We live in a great country and a wonderful community. Your newspaper is a forum from which we truly benefit. As an itinerant writer, I have greatly enjoyed the ongoing dialogue and (showing my age) my diction was humorously labeled as “so 1890s.” I will try to do better. It has been a great pleasure reading and participating.

Mr. John Munford of your paper does a fine job and I am sure he works very hard. I did want to respond, though, to his recent editorial on what “Mayor Munford” would do if elected. He put forth a fine, creative effort and I agree with most of his piece. I do, however, want to take issue with his position on the Development Authority debts.

I experienced World War II; my parents the Great Depression. We understood the impact of financial limits. Perhaps Mr. Munford has a young family. Surely he can understand these concerns. We simply cannot afford to give away $2 million unless we are required to do so. I believe that the courts should rule and if the city is found responsible for some or all of the debt we should pay it immediately.

We should not needlessly concern ourselves with blame and accusation. This troubling situation has presented itself with differing opinions. We need a solution that will “close the book” and help heal these wounds. I believe that most people attempt to do their jobs well.

When our city attorneys have told us that the Development Authority debts are not city obligations, I am confident that they have done so in good faith. There are some contrary views.

Fortunately, we live in a country where our disputes are resolved in courts of law. I believe that we should look to the courts for a resolution, taking confidence that this is truly the only way we will achieve closure on the subject. We need to have faith in our city and confidence in our system. From what I read, we are not able to conduct a vote by the people on this issue and that is unfortunate.

We in PTC are near “build-out” and our community is maturing. We will have extensive budgetary needs in the near future. We need to save for these needs; we need to save for our “rainy day.” Roads, bridges and cartpaths will need to be maintained; public safety, libraries and staff will need to be expanded. We need to be very, very careful with our city funds. We will be in great need very soon.

We should wait patiently for the courts to rule. We should then abide by the decision. The ultimate impact will be less than 10 percent of our annual budget. Our city council and staff can plan how we will pay this debt if that happens. But to pay a debt that has not been proven to be an obligation of the city would be a huge mistake in my view.

Fran Sheldon
Peachtree City, Ga.